I must have shocked my colleague – a native New Englander, more of a rock-and-roll guy than a country fan – when I said, “I could probably sing you forty of those sixty number-one hits, from memory.” I didn’t add that I could also sing (at least) twenty of George’s songs that never made it to the top of the charts. His music is a constant thread, woven through the background of my childhood memories.

I don’t know how my parents discovered George’s music, but I do know they have loved him since the early eighties, nearly all my life. Our stack of George Strait cassettes grew gradually over the years: Ten Strait Hits, Greatest Hits Volume 2, the Pure Country soundtrack, Ocean Front Property, Lead On, Easy Come Easy Go. Later we added (on CD) Blue Clear Sky, Carrying Your Love with Me, One Step at a Time, The Road Less Traveled. And every year, we put on Merry Christmas Strait to You (along with Elvis’ Blue Christmas and Kenny G’s Miracles) as we decorated the Christmas tree and hung the stockings. (Now I play it each year as my husband and I hang ornaments on our own tree.)

Every summer of my childhood, we packed the car with suitcases and stuffed animals, and pulled out of the driveway before dawn. It is nearly 700 miles from my West Texas hometown to my grandparents’ farm in southwest Missouri, and we always made the trip in one day, the long gray miles of highway sliding by to the sound of George’s voice. Especially in those early years, when reading made us carsick, my sister Betsy and I would sit and listen, leaning our heads against the car windows, listening as George spun tales of love and loss and family, mile after mile after mile.

After spending a few days with Dad’s family, we’d load up the car for another long day of driving, this time to my mom’s hometown, outside of Dayton, Ohio. We’d leave early to get a jump on the day, sometimes stopping for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel after we’d been on the road a few hours. We always brought along travel games – Yahtzee, Uno, Outburst – but so many of those miles unfolded to the sound of George’s voice. We occasionally slid in other albums for variety – a cassette of Elvis classics like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Jailhouse Rock,” an album of Eagles hits like “Take it Easy” and “Desperado” – but my memories of those trips are laced with “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” and “Ace in the Hole” and “Baby Blue.”

My sister and I memorized all those songs before we knew what they meant, before we knew that some relationships are “easy come, easy go,” that “you can’t make a heart love somebody,” or what “The Fireman” was really doing when he “put out old flames.” My dad always took Mom’s hand in his during “I Cross My Heart,” and he’d reach back to the backseat and squeeze my hand or Betsy’s during “Love Without End, Amen,” which is about a father’s love (and which still makes me cry).

We laughed at the “grits and red-eye gravy” line in “My Heart Won’t Wander Very Far From You,” tapped our toes at “Adalida” and “Lovebug,” and I loved hearing the names of towns I knew during “Amarillo By Morning” and “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.” Even though I was years away from falling in love, I used to get a lump in my throat at “Baby’s Gotten Good at Goodbye” and “Nobody in His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her.” I couldn’t explain the melancholy, though I knew even then that many of the best love songs are sad ones. But we listened to those songs, over and over, till they became as much a part of me as the hymns I sang at church every Sunday.

Recently, browsing Waterloo Records in downtown Austin, I found two of those vintage George Strait albums – the Pure Country soundtrack and Greatest Hits Volume Two – for next to nothing, and I snapped them up. “The Chair” still makes me smile, “Heartland” still sets my toes tapping, and especially as George has conducted his aptly named farewell tour, my eyes well up at “The Cowboy Rides Away.”

His music is safety, stability, a steady voice matched by a twinkle in his green eyes. It’s those road trips when I was a child, Dad driving and Mom in the passenger seat, painting her nails or flipping through a magazine. It’s those hours spent unraveling strands of white Christmas lights in the living room, singing about how “there’s a new kid in town” or “for Christ’s sake, it’s Christmas.” It’s Wrangler jeans, a white cowboy hat and a crisp, starched button-down shirt. It’s a man and his guitar, singing about love and heartbreak and faith, with a little gambling or rodeo thrown in once in a while.

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4 Responses

We didn’t listen to a whole lot of country music in my house (neither of my parents liked it) but once I got my own radio I about wore out my first George Strait tape. He lived in my hometown for a while (that’s where his daughter’s car accident was) and I couldn’t escape growing up without hearing George if I tried. Hard to believe he’s retiring from touring, and I hope he really will continue to record music.

Yeah, hard to think his yearly tours will be a thing of the past, but I have heard him say he will do a few dates here and there. However, he has been touring for 33 plus years and I am sure he wants to spend time with his Grandson. Also, he signed a deal to do five more albums (I am not sure if that includes his 2013 album Love Is Everything). I was very happy to hear he will continue to release new music, because Country Radio needs his music as much as ever with some of the crap they play now-a-days.

This is one of the best posts I’ve ever come across. It made me think of my childhood. I can remember being in my Grandma’s house listening to “The Fireman”, “Ocean Front Property”, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”, and many others on her radio. She played him in her car all the time, and she’s watched “Pure Country” around a 1000 times.

I didn’t become a true GS fan until “Blue Clear Sky”, which was the first CD I ever bought. The album is good but not a personal favorite. However, “Blue Clear Sky” is my favorite song of his. The song sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1996, and most of George’s music is that way. He is a once in a lifetime artist and he’ll still be played 100 years from now.

George has helped me get through some tough times in life, and helped me celebrate great times! I have friends who haven’t ever asked me, but I know they have to wonder why I’m such a fan of his. The truth is George’s music has been woven into my life, and to a degree apart of my soul and heart. I think there is a humbleness and humility to him that I admire. Plus, he’s about the music and his music is all substance, not flash. I think he has been smart to not over expose himself to the public, which I think more artists should do. Then again, I think that George is a private person to a point.

I loved the Texas Monthly article. It made me realize there was a time before when George Strait became the George Strait we all know now. I was born in 84, which was before he was a national name.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there. This post made me tear up a little because in a way I could totally relate to what you said. Thanks for sharing.

Great post, Kate. You really captured how our family grew to love and still loves George and his music. I am glad his music became a part of you and your childhood memories. He will always be the King.

Alan Jackson summed up it up pretty well on a CMA award show years ago when he said, “George, I finally figured it out. You’re just naturally cool.”